Do You Want To Know?
by pingnova
Summary: Sometimes it is best not to question your friends and just help them drag the body bag into the river. Tom Harris isn't sure he really want's to know about all of Alex Rider's many sketchy dealings.


**Do You Want To Know?  
><strong>_**100 Theme Challenge #21**_

Sometimes it is best not to question your friends and just help them drag the body bag into the river.

Tom Harris honestly didn't know what to do about his friend anymore. He and Alex Rider went way back to the beginning of secondary level education and between then and now, a lot had changed.

First, Tom's parents were currently in a violent divorce. More often than not that assured the boy would be anywhere but home, he was tired of dodging plates.

Second and most importantly, Alex had become an unwilling espionage agent. His uncle had apparently worked for Military Intelligence Six, as well as his father. Both of them were killed because of their occupations. Then the Head of MI6—"Blunt" as Alex called him—thought it would be a brilliant idea to make use of the last Rider.

That brought them to their current situation.

"So MI6 wants you to—?"

"Yep."

"And then they want you to—?"

"You got it," Alex replied unenthusiastically as he dragged the suspiciously human shaped bag towards the chattering river.

It was a Sunday morning, exactly 2:00 am, and Tom Harris and Alex Rider were none too happy to be at the banks of the River Thames with a dead body to dispose of. Both of them were half asleep and at least one of them was struggling to see in the predawn darkness.

Tom squinted, trying to separate his friend from the shadows. "Alex?"

"Hm?" came the distracted reply.

"Just so you know, this is the coolest sleepover ever."

If Tom could've seen in the darkness, he would have noticed his friend's grim smile. "Glad you're having fun."

Alex, at this point, would've much rather been asleep, Tom could tell. MI6 had called him at midnight with a disposal job, just when he'd thought they'd at least get the weekend off.

Tom didn't know really what they were doing. When he'd caught his friend trying to sneak out of the house, he'd insisted on tagging along, prepared for everything. What he hadn't been ready for, however, was becoming a covert body disposer.

The bag was occupied by a man by the looks of it. A full grown man with a well built frame. He must've weighed something around 160 pounds if Tom's aching shoulders were anything to go by and the boy truthfully didn't know if it had been Alex who had killed the man or someone else. He hadn't elaborated.

That thought shook Tom; nevertheless he stuck by his friend and helped him with his gruesome task.

He watched as his friend finished tying a weight to the body bag, then helped him haul it into the water. A splash resounded through the night but attracted no attention; it sunk like a dead man.

"So Alex…"

"Yeah?"

"Who was in that anyway?"

There was a pause, as if Tom's friend were considering his response.

"Do you _really_ want to know?"

Now it was Tom's turn to consider. According to his friends all too numerous stories, anyone who got mixed up in the criminal world was inevitably tied to it. It had practically destroyed Alex's life and transformed Tom into quite the therapist at times. When he truly deliberated the pros and cons, he realized he fairly enjoyed his quiet life of feuding parents and schoolwork.

Tom shook his head despite the knowledge that his friend couldn't see it. "No," he replied sullenly.

A tiny invisible grin stole Alex's features. "_Good_," Alex sighed in an inaudible and relieved whisper.

The next morning, Tom was flipping through the channels on the television, bored to tears. Last night's escapade had been tiring, so Alex had inevitably slept in.

Over the hubbub of changing stations, the line of an early morning newscaster caught his attention.

"…_in the Thames this morning_—"

Tom's finger hovered over the back button on the remote, the annoying music of a children's TV show filling his senses.

Did he want to know?

If he flipped to the channel, he'd probably learn who had been in the body bag. He'd learn how they died and maybe even who killed him.

But did he _really_ want to know?

With a defeated sigh, Tom kept surfing the channels. Leave the espionage to someone who could do it. He wanted nothing to do with the underworld of spies. He'd cling to his belief that Alex was still the Alex he knew for a while longer.

No, Tom did not want to know.

**. . . .**

**Authors Note: **Hm, coulda' done better. I wasn't sure about posting this, but I thought if I was going to do the 100 Theme Challenge, I might as well post the stories that come out of it.

You know, my oneshots keep getting shorter and shorter.

Dedicated to ReillyScarecrowRocks, thanks for being such a faithful reviewer! (And sorry your dedicated story is so sucky!) ^^'

To anybody who's read my other stuff to: what's your favorite first line of all my _Alex Rider_ fic's? Just curious.

Also, should I download ALL of my 100 Theme Challenge fic's? No matter how badly written?


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